Ironing machine for clothes,textile fabrics or the like



Jan. 6, 1970 BRAVETTI 3,487,566

IRONING MACHINE FOR CLOTHES, TEXTILE FABRICS OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 10, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 o 4& 45

O O O O O O 1 1 I I f f I I' .ZWVEI/WWE L BE/2a 604mm: BY

L. BRAVETTI 3,487,566

IRONING MACHINE FOR CLOTHES, TEXTILE FABRICS OR THE LIKE Jan. 6, 1970 Filed Jan. 10, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 T Li 1 \l 5 L m m 111 w nr aw 5 V I 6/ H M v FL uL hm/ i] Z I -5 INVENTOR. m am/Err, mw/ jfg United States Patent O 3,487,566 IRONING MACHINE FOR CLOTHES, TEXTILE FABRICS OR THE LIKE Libero Bravetti, via Asti I, Cologno Monzese, Italy Filed Jan. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 790,230 Claims priority, appliscatigr/isItaly, May 16, 1968,

Int. ornosr 69/02 US. Cl. 388 20 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an ironing machine for clothes, textile fabrics or the like, hereinafter referred to generally as articles.

In conventional ironing machines, non-heated drums are arranged above fixed heated troughs which also serve the purpose to urge the articles against said drums. The surface of said troughs is permanently subjected to strong cooling by the damp articles, which practically means a serious reduction in the drying and ironing effect. A further reduction in the efiiciency is due to the imperative provision of steam discharge openings.

In addition, drying and ironing calenders of low efficiency are known, which have a single heated ironing drum of considerable diameter, said drum being provided with a plurality of guide rollers. These calenders do not provide good results both with respect to the speed of operation and with respect to efliciency and ironing quality, so that many manufacturers have stopped production of machines having one ironing drum only.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to provide an ironing machine which is devoid of the above-mentioned drawbacks and which ensures satisfactory ironing of the articles.

To attain this object, the present invention provides an ironing machine for clothes, textile fabrics or the like, which comprises a motor group connected to a variable speed transmission by means of a belt; a reduction gear connected to said variable speed transmission and having a gear transmitting the movement originating from said motor group to a first chain in a desired transmission ratio; a tensioning means having a gear to hold said first chain under tension; a first heated ironing drum having secured thereto a gear; a second heated ironing drum having secured thereto a gear, said first chain connecting the gear of said first drum to the gear of said second drum, and said gears having different diameters so as to impart to the second drum a greater circumferential speed than to the first drum; a further gear secured to said gear of said second drum; a third heated ironing drum having secured thereto a gear, and a second chain connecting said further gear to said gear of said third drum, said further gear of of said second drum and said 3,487,566 Patented Jan. 6, 1970 gear of said third drum having different diameters so as to impart to the third drum a greater circumferential speed than to the second drum.

In a preferred embodiment, the ironing machine of the 5 invention further comprises tensioning means having a gear to keep the second chain connecting said second drum to said third drum under tension; a further gear secured to said gear of said third drum; a third chain engaging said further gear of said third drum and three other gears, the first of said three other gears being carried by tensioning means, while the second one is secured to a roller arranged to drive a plurality of neighboring pretreated and reinforced asbestos aprons, and the third one has the function of keeping said third chain in permanent engagement with a plurality of teeth of said second gear; and a gear carried by the gear of the first drum and providing rotation of a fourth chain which travels round a plurality of further gears.

Thus, the ironing machine of the invention differs from all conventional machines in that a plurality of heated ironing drums is provided, which heated ironing drums preferably are arranged in horizontal parallel relationship, are driven at speeds increasing from drum to drum, and have identical diameters.

Associated with said heated ironing drums are a plurality of rollers, which provide a predetermined path for the articles. Over the majority of this path, the articles are in contact with the surfaces of the heated ironing drums which determine the degree of drying and ironing of the articles.

The machine proposed by the invention provides the possibility of keeping the diameters of the heated ironing drums small without affecting their efficiency, said possibility being due to the favorable structural and operational features of the machine. Thereby, the machine of the invention offers considerable advantages over the conventional machines having drums of considerably greater diameters. Of particular advantage is the fact that by avoiding the provision of any 'fixed troughs, power consumption of the proposed machine will be considerably smaller.

Also another disadvantage of the conventional machines, which is due to the necessity of providing steam discharge openings, is overcome by the invention, because the proposed machine operates with rotating drums, circumeferential portions of which are not in contact with the damp articles. Therefore the free circumferential portions of the heated ironing drums can again reheat before they again will come into contact with the damp articles during their rotation.

In order to prevent the articles from folding or buckling a plurality of fiber glass belts may he provided which, from a transport roller to a guide roller, travel side by side along a path identical to that of the asbestos aprons, the articles being located between the asbestos aprons located on the outside and the fiber glass belts located on the inside throughout the path of said articles through said machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through an ironing machine according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the ironing machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the ironing machine, schematically illustrating the mode of operaiton of the components thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevational view, showing the heating circuit for the ironing drums.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 3, the ironing machine proposed by the invention includes a motor group 1 which is connected to a variable speed transmission 2' by means of a belt 3, said transmission 2 on the other hand being connected to a reduction gear 2. The reduction gear 2 has a gear 4 which transmits the movement originating from the motor group 1 to a first chain 5. The chain 5 is held under tension by means of a gear 7 of tensioning means 6.

The chain 5 provides a transmission between a gear 8 keyed to a first heated ironing drum 11 and a gear 9 secured to a second heated ironing drum 12. The gears 8 and 9 differ in diameter to such an extent that the second ironing drum 12 rotates at a somewhat greater peripheral speed than the first ironing drum 11.

The gear 9 of the second ironing drum 12 carries a further gear 9 which is connected to a gear through a second chain 14, said gear 10 being secured to a third heated ironing drum 13. As the gears 9' and 10 have different diameters, the third ironing drum 13 rotates at a peripheral speed greater than that of.the second ironing drum 12. The chain 14 is held under tension by means of a gear 15 of tensioning means 16.

The gear 10 of the third ironing drum 13 carries a gear 10 which is in engagement with a third chain 17 led around gears 18, 19 and 20. The gear 18 is acted upon by tensioning means 21, while the gear 19 is secured to a roller 19' (FIG. 1) which determines the advance of a plurality of pretreated and reinforced asbestos aprons 22 travelling in side-by-side relationship round said roller 19'. The gear has the function of keeping the chain 17 in permanent engagement with a plurality of teeth of the gear 19 secured to the roller 19'.

The gear 8 carries a gear 8' which drives a fourth chain 23 led around gears 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. The gear 24 is connected to tensioning means 31 which hold the chain 23 under tension while the gears 25, 26, 28 and 30 are provided to guide the chain 23.

The gear 27 is secured to a roller 32 (FIG. 1) which causes advance of a conveyor belt 33 which is in contact with a support plate 34. The conveyor belt 33 has the function of introducing the articles into the ironing machine.

The gear 29 is secured to a pressure roller 35 which extends along the first ironing drum 11 and is connected to a pneumatic cylinder 36 which urges the pressure roller 35 against the first ironing drum 11 at a controllable pressure. The pressure roller 35 is provided with an elastic coating so that is is preferably permanently in good contact with the surface of the first ironing drum 11. This pressure roller 35 rotates at the same peripheral speed as the first ironing drum 11 and has the function of retaining and thereby stretching the articles when the leading portions of the articles are gripped by the asbestos aprons 22 and are drawn into the machine.

It is essential that the asbestos aprons 22 move at a speed which is greater than the speed of rotation of the pressure roller 35 and of the first ironing drum 11, for thereby the articles, when reaching the position A in FIG. 1, will be subjected to a first drawing and stretching action ensuring a perfectly smooth contact of the articles with the cylindrical wall of the first ironing drum 11 so that practically a mechanical ironing action is achieved which will last as long as the articles are in contact with said first ironing drum 11.

Said stretching action is even still present when the articles have been moved by the asbestos aprons 22 over a deflection roller 38 and travel round the second ironing drum 12 because said second ironing drum 12 rotates at a peripheral speed greater than the peripheral speed of the first ironing drum 11 and because the asbestos aprons 22 run at a speed greater than the peripheral speed of the second ironing drum 12.

Subsequently the articles will be guided by means of the asbestos aprons 22 over a deflection roller 39 and therefrom over the third ironing drum 13.

Also at this stage the articles will be subjected to a stretching action, because the asbestos aprons 22 run at a peripheral speed greater than that of the third ironing drum 13. Downstream of the third ironing drum 13, the asbestos aprons 22 travel round the roller 19 and subsequently over a roller 40 which, as can be seen from FIG. 2, is provided with guides 40 for the individual asbestos aprons 22. Said guides 40 furthermore have the function of taking the ironed articles from the asbestos aprons 22 which transported said articles from a deflection roller 37 to the roller 40 from which said articles fall on a receiving plate 41 under the influence of gravity.

On their remaining path the asbestos aprons 22 travel round a guide roller 42 acted upon by tensioning means 43 and subsequently round a roller 44 from which they return to the deflection roller 37 which is arranged in the vicinity of the pressure roller 35.

Moreover, in the ironing machine proposed by the invention a plurality of fiber glass belts 45 are arranged in side-by-side relationship to describe a path which, between a transport roller 46 and a guide roller 47, is identical to that described by the asbestos aprons 22. By the provision of said fiber glass belts 45 the articles are prevented from folding or dislocating since throughout their travel through the machine they are kept in their positions between the asbestos aprons 22 located on the outside and the fiber glass belts 45 located on the inside, the latter being in contact with the surfaces of the heated ironing drums 11, 12, and 13.

At the guide roller 47, the fiber glass belts 45 leave the path of the asbestos aprons 22 and return around support rods 48 and 49 to the roller 46.

In addition, the ironing machine proposed by the invention is provided with ventilation hoods 50 and 50 for the discharge of steam. These hoods are connected to conduits 51 and 51 which are in communication with exhausters 52 and 53, as can be seen from FIG. 4. This figure also includes a schematic illustration of the hydraulic equipment for heating the ironing drums 11, 12 and 13.

The ironing drums 11, 12 and 13 are heated by means of steam or a heating liquid which is fed into the ironing drums through conduits 54 and tubes 55.

The hydraulic equipment includes tubes 56 for the discharge of steam which is then condensed and drained off through tubes 57. If use is made of a heating liquid, said liquid will be discharged through the tubes 56 and 57.

The ironing machine proposed by the invention is particularly characterized by the path described by the asbestos aprons 22 and moreover by the fact that said asbestos aprons travel at a speed which is greater than the peripheral speed of the pressure roller 35 and greater than the from drum to drum increasing circumferential speeds of the heated ironing drums 11, 12 and 13. These drums may be realized in various forms according to actual requirements. For example, the heated ironing drums 11, 12 and 13 may also be arranged vertically or axially offset, is. non-aligned, the passage of the articles, however, remaining unchanged.

Furthermore, the passage of the articles may be reversed by reversing the operative arrangement of the ironing machine proposed by the invention.

Moreover, the rollers 37, 38, 39 and 19' may have different positions in relation to the axes of the heated ironing drums 11, 12 and 13, while maintaining the substantially sinusoidal path of the asbestos aprons 22 during operation.

What is claimed is:

1. An ironing machine for clothes, textile fabrics or the like, comprising (a) a motor group connected to a variable speed transmission by means of a belt;

(b) a reduction gear connected to said variable speed transmission and having a gear transmitting the movement originating from said motor group to a first chain in a desired transmission ratio;

(c) a tensioning means having a gear to hold said first chain under tension;

(d) a first heated ironing drum having secured thereto a gear;

(e) a second heated ironing drum having secured thereto a gear, said first chain connecting the gear of said first drum to the gear of said second drum, and said gears having different diameters so as to impart to the second drum a greater circumferential speed than to the first drum;

(f) a further gear secured to said gear of said second drum;

(g) a third heated ironing drum having secured thereto a gear, and

(h) a second chain, connecting said further gear to said gear of said third drum, said further gear of said second drum and said gear of said third drum having different diameters so as to impart to the third drum a greater circumferential speed than to the second drum.

2. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 1, comprising tensioning means having a gear to keep the second chain connecting said second drum to said third drum under tension; a further gear secured to said gear of said third drum; a third chain engaging said further gear of said third drum and three other gears, the first of said three other gears being carried by tensioning means, while the second one is secured to a roller arranged to drive a plurality of neighboring pretreated and reinforced asbestos aprons, and the third one has the function of keeping said third chain in permanent engagement with a plurality of teeth of said second gear; and a gear carried by the gear of the first drum and providing rotation of a fourth chain which travels round a plurality of further gears.

3. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein one of said plurality of further gears forms part of tensioning means holding the fourth chain under tension, and wherein a number of said plurality of further gears are arranged to provide an advantageous guide for said fourth chain.

4. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein another of said plurality of further gears is secured to a roller which drives a conveyor belt travelling over a support plate for introducing the articles into the machine.

5. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein another of said plurality of further gears is secured to a pressure roller provided with an elastic coating and acted upon by pneumatic means for urging said pressure roller at controllable pressure against the periphery of the first drum.

6. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pressure roller is arranged to retain in co-operation with the first drum the trailing portions of the articles when the leading portions of the articles have been gripped by the asbestos aprons.

7. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the pressure roller is arranged to rotate at the same peripheral speed as the first drum.

8. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the asbestos aprons rotate at a speed which is greater than the peripheral speed of the pressure roller so that the articles, when located in a predetermined position, are sub jected to a first drawing and stretching action which provides smooth contact between the articles and the cylindrical wall of the first drum.

9. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein the articles are maintained in stretched condition throughout their travel between the cylindrical wall of the first drum and the asbestos aprons because the asbestos aprons travel at a speed which is greater than the peripheral speed of said first drum.

10. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein the drawing and stretching action is maintained when the asbestos aprons guide the articles from the first drum round a deflection roller to and around the second drum, because the second drum rotates at a peripheral speed greater than the peripheral speed of the first drum and the asbestos aprons rotate at a speed which is greater than he peripheral speed of the second drum.

11. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 10, wherein the drawing and stretching action is maintained when the asbestos aprons guide the articles from the second drum round a deflection roller to and around the third drum, because the third drum rotates at a peripheral speed greater than the peripheral speed of the second drum and the asbestos aprons rotate at a speed which is greater than the peripheral speed of the third drum.

12. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the asbestos aprons downstream of the roller of the second gear of said three other gears travel round a roller which is provided with guides for the individual asbestos aprons, said guides being arranged to take the articles off the asbestos aprons so that they fall on a receiving plate due to gravity.

13. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the asbestos aprons travel round a plurality of drive and deflection rollers and also travel round a tensioning roller of tensioning means, and wherein a plurality of fiber glass belts are provided which, from a transport roller to a guide roller, travel along a path identical to that of the asbestos aprons, folding of the articles being prevented by said articles being located between the asbestos aprons located on the outside and the fiber glass belts located on the inside throughout the p ath of said articles through the machine.

14. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 13, wherein the fiberglass belts leave the path of the asbestos aprons at the guide roller and return round guide and support rods to the transport roller.

15. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 1, comprising hoods for the discharge of steam, said hoods being connected to conduits which are in communication with exhausters.

16. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 1, comprising conduits and tubes for feeding a heating medium to the ironing drums; a hydraulic equipment including tubes for the discharge of said medium which is condensed and/ or drained ofl through said tubes.

17. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein a variable number of heated ironing drums is used.

18. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heated ironing drums are arranged vertically and are axially offset with respect to each other.

19. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the operative arrangement of said machine is reversed to reverse the direction of passage of the articles.

20. An ironing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the deflection rollers are arranged in a different relation to the ironing drums, said asbestos aprons always describing a substantially sinusoidal path during operation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l/1964 Suits et a1 3855 8/1968 Schwegler 38-55 

